Willie Horton Haunts Lee Atwater

March 12, 1989

Lee Atwater, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, has declared from his first days on the job that one of his most urgent goals is to recruit more blacks and other minorities into the GOP. There should be no reason to doubt his enthusiasm for that task.

President Bush, who has demonstrated a refreshing sensitivity to minority concerns since being elected and obviously supports the effort to end the Democrats` near-monopoly on minority voters, is not a racist. Nor is it likely that Lee Atwater is.

When Atwater accepted appointment as a trustee at Howard University, a leading black school, he surely meant it to convey that he was willing to pay more than lip service to his recruitment drive.

But last week, after first vowing to stay, Atwater capitulated to a determined sit-in protest by Howard students and resigned from the board.

``The opposition of some students to my service on the board appears to me to be counterproductive to Howard University, and is a distraction to the work that I want to do in fulfilling George Bush`s and my efforts to provide equal opportunity to all Americans,`` he said in quitting. ``I would never forgive myself if someone was hurt in one of these episodes.``

There`s certainly no doubt it`s ``counterproductive`` to recruiting minorities when a lot of students are protesting in the nation`s capital that you ran a campaign with some racial overtones. Atwater, who managed the Bush race, denies any such thing. But there was widespread criticism that the commercials featuring Willie Horton, a furloughed black Massachusetts prisoner who raped a white Maryland woman, could reinforce a frightening racial stereotype.

The lesson here for Lee Atwater-and for George Bush-is that people, especially those who feel offended, have memories that outlive the expedient devices that may help win political battles. If they really want the minority vote, next time perhaps they`ll think twice before turning loose a Willie Horton ad.